Data Center Health & Safety Lead - Development

Job Title:  Health & Safety Lead, Development
 

Location: London

Job Summary:  

Join a team defining the future of safe, sustainable, high-performance data infrastructure projects. As our Development Health & Safety Lead, you will champion and be responsible for safety, compliance, and risk mitigation across the entire capital project lifecycle, from design, initial ground-breaking and civil works through to structural build, MEP installation, and testing & commissioning. Your primary mission is to embed a world-class safety culture across our development sites, ensuring all projects are delivered entirely incident-free. 

What we are looking for:  

A degree educated professional with a proven track record in the delivery of large scale commercial or industrial projects with international workforces.  With a passion for continuous improvement in all aspects of EHS within and outside projects, who can demonstrate extensive hands-on experience managing large-scale build safety for critical infrastructure, or heavy industrial developments. 

Policy/Project Planning and Risk Management: 

• Develop and implement construction EHS policies, project safety plans, and field procedures to ensure compliance with Verne and customer standards. 

• Oversee project hazard analyses, risk assessments, and regular site inspections to proactively identify and mitigate safety concerns. 

• Review, optimize and enforce strict risk mitigation strategies specific to high-risk build activities, including heavy lifting operations, structural works, working at heights, excavation works, temporary works and commissioning works. 

Regulatory Compliance: 

• Ensure strict adherence to all local construction regulations and relevant EU safety directives. 

• Manage the tracking, and ongoing maintenance of all essential construction-related H&S permits, environmental licenses, and project documentation. 

• Serve as the primary point of contact for external regulatory bodies during construction site inspections, audits, and official inquiries. 

• Demonstrate strong working knowledge of ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 management systems within a capital project delivery context. 

Incident Management & Prevention: 

• Provide end-to-end construction incident management support, leading comprehensive investigations for all on-site accidents, near-misses, and safety observations alongside local teams and principal contractors. 

• Conduct thorough Root Cause Analyses reports and partner with engineering and construction teams to implement and track robust Corrective and Preventative Actions (CAPA) to full closure. 

Training & Safety Culture: 

• Working with project stakeholders, design, deliver, and continuously optimize construction site EHS inductions, specialized safety briefings, and toolbox talk frameworks. 

• Foster a proactive, No-Blame behavioural safety culture on site rooted in transparent reporting, empowering every contractor and worker with Stop Work Authority. 

• Coordinate on-site construction safety committees and align project leadership with field safety representatives. 

Contractor & Vendor Safety: 

• Lead the safety pre-qualification, review, and approval process for principal contractors, vendors, and specialized construction partners. 

• Audit and approve contractor Construction Phase Plans, where applicable RAMS and site-specific Permit-to-Work protocols. 

• Enforce strict competency and training verification gates for all on-site construction personnel and contractors before works commence. 

• Conduct regular safety walks, behavioural safety audits, and formal evaluations of contractor activities to maintain an uncompromising standard of site safety. 

• Operational handover 

• Lead the safety component of the testing, commissioning, and final handover phases, ensuring a clean, thoroughly documented transition to the Operations team. 

Required Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree in occupational health & safety or higher. 

• Bolt on additional EHS qualifications.  

• 10+ years of progressive EHS leadership experience within large-scale industrial construction, hyperscale data centre builds, high-tech manufacturing developments, or critical infrastructure projects. 

• Deep understanding of construction safety laws, example CDM 2015 (UK) and wider EU/Nordic construction health and safety directives etc.